Eric Ivan Ortiz Rivera: Always willing to help

"Eric was always willing to help everybody. He sacrificed himself a lot for his family," said his former roommate, Abismel Colon Gomez of Orlando. "He loved his brother, and he was always being generous."

"Eric was always willing to help everybody. He sacrificed himself a lot for his family," said his former roommate, Abismel Colon Gomez of Orlando. "He loved his brother, and he was always being generous."

Eric Ivan Ortiz Rivera, 36, came to Florida from Puerto Rico in 2007 for the same reason many from the island do — to have a chance at a better life.

Early on Sunday, June 12, his life ended in the gunfire at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub.

“Eric was always willing to help everybody. He sacrificed himself a lot for his family,” said his former roommate, Abismel Colon Gomez of Orlando. “He loved his brother, and he was always being generous.”

Known as Eric Ortiz, he left behind a husband just days before the couple’s first wedding anniversary. Ivan Dominguez, 30, told CNN the two had met at Pulse shortly after each moved to Orlando. Dominguez came from Panama.

They shared a friendship first, then decided to date. When they married on June 26, 2015, they left the courthouse only to learn the U.S. Supreme Court had just ruled to legalize gay marriage in all 50 states.

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Eric Ivan Ortiz Rivera, 36, came to Florida from Puerto Rico to work his way up in his career and have a chance at a better life. Read more about him here.

Eric Ivan Ortiz Rivera, 36, came to Florida from Puerto Rico to work his way up in his career and have a chance at a better life. Read more about him here.

(Facebook / Facebook)

“It was a happy coincidence,” Dominguez said.

Ortiz worked in merchandise management for several companies, including Party City and Toys “R” Us. He held a bachelor’s degree in communications from Univercidad Central de Bayamon, Colon Gomez said.

Ortiz Rivera had a brother and aunt living in the Orlando area — as well as a wide group of friends.

“I am really in shock that he was in the club, because he was not usually a club-scene person,” Colon Gomez said. “The only reason he went was because there was a house-warming party for our friend. And Eric was like his mentor.”

After the house-warming party on Saturday night, the crowd had moved to Pulse, a common place for members of the Hispanic gay community to celebrate — and all the more so on Saturday, which was Latin Night. Dominguez, who had to work the next day, had stayed home.

“My heart breaks,” Colon Gomez said. “We have seven friends who were there, and already we know three are dead.”

Dominguez, though, said he could feel his husband’s spirit comforting him. “I believe that he is helping me to go through all this,” he said.